The Porter County Board of Commissioners declined Tuesday morning to approve a six-year contract renewal worth $724,000 for aerial photography of county properties, asking Porter County Assessor Sue Neff to come back with other bids before making an award.
The master service agreement Neff was proposing was with Eagleview for it to photograph properties from an altitude of 6,8000 feet. The contract was a 4.5% increase over the previous six-year contract and totaled $120,664.97 per year.
“In my opinion, when we get to these kinds of figures, why aren’t we bidding this out?” Commissioner Jim Biggs, R-North, wanted to know.
“We are very happy that they fit us in when we need it done,” Neff replied, explaining that the pictometry cannot be completed when there is snow on the ground or leaves on the trees. She said Eagleview started and completed this year’s work in March. “They’ve been awesome.”
“I can’t think of one contract that comes close to these dollars that we don’t bid out,” Biggs said. “We’re talking about taxpayer dollars.”
Neff explained that keeping with the same vendor allows her and her staff to compare properties from year to year as they complete property tax assessments. She said every company uses proprietary software and comparisons may not be possible if they switch vendors.
“If we go to a home and people yell at us and say, ‘Get off my property!’,” they still have a way to track changes, Neff said, adding that the property information her office gathers is shared with 79 other users, such as the prosecutor’s office and adult probation department.
Biggs asked what would prevent the county from buying and using its own drone, and Neff explained that technology creates challenges such as privacy concerns. Neff said Eagleview was the lowest, most responsible bidder when the current contract was bid out six years ago, but agreed to gather another bid and report back.
In other business, the board approved the submission of the county’s local match of $111,040.59 to the Indiana Department of Transportation for its share of the county-wide traffic sign replacement project. The federal government is paying the $999,365.31 remainder. Work will commence in the next 60 days and should be complete by the end of June 2027.
The board also approved a zoning map amendment changing the 11 acres on which Four Corners Winery & Wedding Venue sits at 294 E 600 N in Valparaiso from rural residential (RR) to moderate intensity commercial (CM). Petitioner Deanne Sasser asked for the amendment so the business does not have to continue seeking a variance every five years, which has been done since 2011.
Shelley Jones is a freelance reporter for the Post-Tribune.
